Improvement in hot-air engine



L. A.-L. SUDERSTROM HOT AIR ENGINE.

No. 92,117; v PatentedJune 29, 1869.

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Letters Patent No. 92,1 17,-dated .rm 29,1869.

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The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the lame.

To all whom it may concern 1 Be it known that I, LABS ALBERT LEONARD Siin'nn- Smith, of Paris, in the Empire of Fmnce, have invented a new and'useful Improvement .in Hot-Air Engines with Closed Furnaces; and 1 do hereby declare 4 the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being bad to the tion-pipe.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relatesto improvements in the ap-- plication of heated compressed air to the production of motive power, and in'the apparatus by means of which this power is developed and rendered available 1 for general purposes 1 The main feature of thisimproved air-tight appara.-- tus consists essentially-5 First, in dispensing with the ordinary distributingvalves of such apparatus, and substituting pistons;

Second, in the devices for distributing and heatingthe air;

Third, in the devices for introducing the air through the upper part of the furnace;

Fourth, in the devices for feeding the said furnace with fuel; i I

Fifth, in the combination of organs or devices, which allow of regulating the said apparatus automatically, and of increasing or diminishing, at will, the combustion, in order to obtain this regulation;

Sixth, the peculiar arrangement of the furnace; and

Seventh, the facility with which oxide of carbon, burnt in the recipient intended for the coal, which may be used as fuel, this mode of heating being of great importance in large-sized machines-wherein may be used the gases proceeding from any gas-stove disposcd to that effect, and which may receive all 'sorts of fuel,

of whatever nature it may be.

The projection of the air by the upper part of the furnace, and above the ignited fuel, prevents the forma: tion of smoke and gases, which absorb to no purpose a large amount of caloric; as, by forcing the air into the upper part of the furnace, the ascending gases areof necessity'entirely consumed, by keeping them in contact with the burning fuel.

The high speed of the apparatus allows of using one cylinder only, the upper part of which answers the purpose of a. force-pump for compressing the air into the furnace, and the lower part serves as a drivingcyliuder.

' By reason of the manner in which the machine is disposed, the upper air remains always cold, whilst that which acts under the pistonsis constantly heated, the lower part of the cylinder plunging directly into the furnace, in which it is half enclosed.

in order more fully to appreciatethe chief characteristics of the said improvements, the workingof the machine will now be described.

The coal is first fed into the furnace at by an aperture,--b, which is made at'the lower part of. the apparatus. This coal falls on to a movable cast-iron platform, 0. l a

When the furnace is replenished with coal, the fire is'lighted atthe upper part, and the draught required for the lighting-up takes place through-an aperture, 1],, fig. 2, communicating witha chimney, e, by means ofajunction-pipe, f, fig. 5. This junction-pipe is movable arouud the chimney.

hen the coal is thoroughly lighted, and when the walls of the cylinder and furnace are suificiently heated for operating, the junction-pipe f is,turned off from the mouth of aperture d, as represented in dotted line in fig. 5,, and it then serves as a stop-cock to close the orifice in the chimney, whichthen serves as an escapement-pipe.

The two apertures, b and d; are next closed, by mealns'of plugs furnished withhandles, like that shown atg, fig. 1. These plugs are by preference made of cast-iron, slightly tapering, and they are lined with refractory clay, to intercept the heat.

When the apparatus is set in motion, the air heated in the furnace circulates first in a space surrounding the lower part of the cylinder, which it previously warms, the-n meets with the lower orifice of a pistonvalve, X, which in due time opens to let the heatedair penetrate into the lower part, below the drivingpiston Z.

' The air, on expanding, drives the piston Z upward,

and compels it to compress the cold air enclosed in tlie upper part of the'cylinder, which cold air is driven "apparatus. This compressed air is heated to any re quired degree, by passing, in greater or smaller quantity, into the furnace, through another valve, 0', situ-- ate alittle below the first.

Moreover, to regulate the temperature, and maintain automatically a} uniform pressure, this second valve 0- is actuated by a lever, 8, connected with a small piston working in a hollow cylinder, U,screwcd on to the lid of the furnace, and by a connecting-rod, t, carrying directly the. oounterweights to equilibrate the action .of the piston in the cylinder U.

The air required'to kecpup the combustion comes down through the conduit 1: into an annular space, x.

furnished underneath the top-of the outer jacket of the furnace, and then descends between the cylindrical portion of the said jacket, as shown in figs. 1 and 2, and a lining of masonry, n, consolidated with thin sheet-iron. It then rises into a second annular space, 2:, between the lining-of masonry n and the furnace, where it is heated by' the spiral pipe 13, through which the heated air escapes, and by the outer side of the furnace, consolidated with thin sheet-iron, the air being allowed to enter only by the cast-iron pipe z, fig. 2, which, by one or more branch-pipes, communicates with the tuyere y. I

In this tuyere, in order to regulate the quantityof air, and to throw it properly on to the furnace, is a cone, z, movable on its rod by means of a nut, which raises or lowers it at will.

The volume of air which does not come in contact with the furnace circulates in a conduit, u, which surrounds the cylinder,and descends between this latter and the masonry, to prevent the heat rising into the upper part.

The pistons, at'th'e head-plate of the cylinder, are actuated by the rods 1 l, impelled by the crank-shaft J of the apparatus, by means of two (arms M M on the said shaft, and which act on diction-rollers carried by the rods l 1-. The motion of these pistonstakes place at the same time as that of the driving piston Z. By the disposition of these pistons, the internal pressure compels them to cause the rollers of the rod to press against the cams of the crank-shaft J.

The driving-piston Z is furnished with a trunk above, and with an extension-piece, H, below, filled with coaldust, to obviate the upper parts of thecylinder from getting overheated. It actuates the connecting-rod l', fixed at the bottom of the trunk, and which transmits its motion to the crank-shaft J, carrying the fly-wheels L L. ;This shaft is supported by two brackets K, cast solid with the lid of the cylinder.

The small distributing-pistons, represented in detached views in figs. 3 and 4, are packed with a seg; mental ring, it, having a central rib, and confined between both the head-plates 'i, which, by means of a nut, are fixed to their rod.

Moreover, two rings at m, figs. 1 and 3, which are fitted into the inlet-conduits of thecylinder, and in which these pistons work, are furnished with aslot for the air to pass, said slot being provided with two abutments, 0 and p.' (See fig 4.) These abutments serve to prevent the air passing vthrough the slot, if

the'saine'iscovered by the piston.

- The cams M are so disposed as to admit the air a when necessary, and .also to obtain the degree of expansion required. Thus, when the driving piston Z descends, the outer air penetrates into the upper part of the cylinder, through the upper distributing-piston Y, which is then at its lowest point.

As soon as the..piston Z rises toward the middle of itscourse, the distributing-piston Y has also risen,

and has intercepted the entrance of the outer air, and

all further communication, until the cold air, at that moment shut up in the upper part of the working-cylinder, has acquired the same pressure as that of the furnace. Then the piston Yrises completely, together with the large pistonZ, and the compressed air is forced through the valves q and into the interior of the furnace, as has been hereinbefore related.

The working of piston X, which distributes the heated air on issuing from the lower part of the cylinjder, is the same as the preceding one, said air being as possible at the centre of the furnace, and thoroughly to consume the smoke andgases by the action of the draught of heated air introduced by the tuyere y,

The lower part of the furnace is hermetically closed,

andfuruished with a cast-iron platform, 0, fonthe fuel', said platform being constantly rising toward the'roof w. The furnace is fed fora whole dayswork, or for any required length of time, the platform. being at that stage com pletel y lo\vered, and the fuel being made' to reach the roof w.

As the fuel is by degrees consumed, the platfornirc rises gmdnally, by means of its central r'odD, which carries at its lower extremitya roller, E, under which passes a chain fixed by one end to the lower part of the furnace, and by the other end to a counterweight,

having a chain and a pulley, F G P, (see' fig. 2,) which lowers as the fuel on the platform is gradually consumed. This counterweight is actuated, -it' needs be, with the hand, by means of a handle and a chain, as

represented by the dotted lines in 'fig. 2.

fWhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isi 1., The arrangement of devices for distributing the air throughout theapparatus, and for heating the same, consisting of main pistonsZ, piston-valves XY, valves q 'r, and annular chambers x 2;, substantially as described.

2. The arrangement of the furnace, with its pecirliar closing-piece 9, its vaulted roof to, and ascending platform 0, substantially as set forth,

' 3. The arrangement of the valve q, for regulating the pressure, and of the double-conduit z u, for the passage of the compressed air, substantially as set forth. y

4. The escapement air-pipe B, arranged in' a spiral ,around thefurnace, in combination with chimney 0,

provided with the junction-piece, constructed and op erating substantially as described. v

5. The combination and arrangement of the various devices constituting the apparatus, substantially as hereinbefore fully set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

LARS ALBERT LEONARD SODERSTROM.

Witnesses: I

F. Ocoom', E. James. 

